This is to document my love of and obsession with fabric and quilts! The true, guilty story of buying "just a little bit more", of shopping at thrift stores for the extra large mens shirts to use in your next quilt..and yes..even eyeing up your best friends blouse wondering if she'd notice if you "borrowed" it and just how many 2 inch strips you could get out of it!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

My friend, Lillian, told me about this block and I decided to play and make a couple tonight. How simple is this? Just a 4 patch in the center made from 4 1/2 in squares and then framed on the sides by 2 1/2 x 8 1/2 and 2 1/2 x 12 1/2 inch strips making a 12 1/2 in square. I just love this block! I have TONS of 4 1/2 in squares cut and I can see these blocks making up into all kinds of quick but great looking quilts to donate to Mercy House. The possibilities are endless! Great..just what I need..more ideas flowing through my head! lol I was just playing tonight as it was wayyyy too hot to spend too much time in the sewing room tonight.

Before I start anything new, though, I do have another fun project to finish. It is part of an "Ugly Fabric Challenge". Each person who signed up got the same amount of the same fabric and we have to make any project we want out of it. Then we will vote on our favorites and the top 3 winners get some nice fat quarters as prizes! I can't show you the project until after the voting, but here is the fabric:

Not HORRIBLE, but definitely not pretty!! All I have to do is quilt my project and it is done..yay!!!

Will be spending a good portion of tomorrow replanting part of my vegies. Looks like the beans and pea seeds rotted in the ground from all the rain. Will replant the beans, but not the peas as it is now too late for the. Sigh..guess they will wait until the fall. Now to decide what to plant in their place!

I really love how this turned out and it will be a nice addition to my slowly growing pile of Christmas quilts. Hopefully I can get that iced tea out of it! Thank goodness for the Christmas quiltalong which got me finally quilting this!

Now that I have this finish, I feel like a weight has been lifted off me and I hopefully can get some more things done. I do have gardening to do today while it is sunny out. I was hoping for a rainy day so I could get more sewing in, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do! I am sure I can squeeze some sewing in. Hub is gone for the day and the kids will be gone most of the day, also. That just leaves Patrick and I and that is a nice quiet day!

Well, will try to update as the day goes along. Lots to do and too little time to do it!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Don't answer that. I am sure I was. Every time I think I am going to have time to sew and finish some of my projects, something else comes up. Usually involving running around or doing something for someone else. Yes, I know..that is what happens when you are a mom, but it seems so much more so right now. And I am stressed..there are issues at work, financial issues, too much to do and too little time to do it issues, etc. What do I do to relieve stress? I quilt. Not getting to do that has me feeling like I am a hair away from snapping. I figured I would go on strike today and do nothing for anyone (except, of course, my Patrick). A whole day to sew..yay! I sit down to my Moda 9 patch I started quilting last weekend. Remember I need to throw the next load of laundry in and go downstairs. Come back up to find that one of the cats knocked my iced tea over..all over the floor..and some on my VERY white quilt. Wahhhhh!!!!

Back

Front

So, more added pressure that I really don't need. Now I HAVE to get this done and NOW so I can get this in the wash. Sigh..the way things are going, I don't think it will come out.

Say a prayer for me, please. If I didn't have God to lean on in these crazy times, I am sure I would have snapped long ago!

Yay...thanks to Ali, who is also doing the quilt along, I have found my project. She is working on a quilt top using Moda's Glace line. That reminded me that I had made this 9 patch from Moda last year and it was just waiting to be quilted.

So, this will take care of doing something Christmasy (I think the colors are Christmasy) and will cross a UFO off my list..yay..a twofer!!! Off to piece the backing then get it sandwiched.

Yay!! It is here! The past week has been so nice here weather wise, that I have spent all my non work time planting the vegies and have done really no sewing. I have no idea what I am going to work on today, and I am afraid what I do decide won't be Christmasy. I have 3 blocks for Quiltmaker's 100 blocks magazine vol 4 to make, a couple blocks for a friend to make, my Delfina's Basket quilt to work on, and my Farm Animals quilt to finish quilting. I think I might compromise today...I haven't yet made any of the blocks for the Scatty Stars quilt, so maybe I will make the ones up to now and then work on quilting Farm Animals. I am really feeling very stressed over getting some of the ufo's done. Sigh..I hate that. Don't know why I let myself get this way. The Farm Animal quilt isn't going to anyone so why do I feel like I HAVE to get it done RIGHT NOW? If you feel like joining us for the quilt along..and I hope you do...just click on the link on the right side of the page. It will be fun to work with you!

While I decide on what to work on, here are some pics of the blocks I tested for vol 3 of 100 blocks:

I am not thrilled with my color choices but oh, well. Some of these blocks I would never make on my own, but it is fun to get a chance to try things I normally wouldn't. Well, off to decide what to work on. Post again soon!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

I finally am feeling well enough and have enough energy to get some work done in the sewing room. I really want to whittle the UFO pile down a bit, so after pulling a bunch of tops out, I settled on an old top from Aug 2009. It was a block swap called "Farm Animals" and I just love it..very whimsical! Why did I choose this one of the pile? Because I didn't wanna mess with piecing a backing together and I had the perfect piece of plaid flannel (from a duvet cover and sheet set) that fit and no piecing!!!YAY! lol I know..lazy sewer...but tonight I just wanted to get MOVING! Here it is all sandwiched and ready to go:

Notice my new button on the ride sidebar? It is for testing the blocks for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks magazine Vol 3. They also sent me a great coffee mug. That is, of course, in addition to the fabric they sent me originally, plus they sent me 2 copies of the magazine!! Woot! I believe the magazine is available May 10 on the stands. I will be posting pics of the blocks that I tested soon. I am excited to already be testing the blocks for the NEXT issue!! I LOVE the volume 3 magazine and can't wait to see what volume 4 brings!